Does anyone know the background of the Rosicrucians.?

Question

How and when did they come into being as a religious organization.? No smart aleck answers please.

Answer 1

The Rosicrucian Order is a legendary and secretive Order publicly documented in the early 17th century. The Rosicrucian Order is viewed among earlier and many modern Rosicrucianists as an inner worlds Order, composed of great "Adepts." When compared to human beings, the consciousness of these Adepts is said to be like that of demi-gods. This "College of Invisibles" is regarded as the source permanently behind the development of the Rosicrucian movement.

Several modern societies have been formed for the study of Rosicrucianism and allied subjects. However, many researchers on the history of Rosicrucianism argue that modern Rosicrucianists are in no sense directly derived from the "Brethren of the Rose Cross" of the 17th century. Instead, they are considered to be keen followers. Moreover, some have viewed the 17th century order as a literary hoax or prank, rather than an operative society. Others contend that history shows them to be the genesis of later operative and functional societies. Rosicrucianism is generally associated with the symbol of the Rose Cross, which is also found in certain rituals beyond "Craft" or "Blue Lodge" Freemasonry.

The Rosicrucian greeting is, "May the Roses bloom upon your Cross."
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Origins
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The 17th century Manifestos and legend
In the 17th century three Rosicrucian Manifestos were anonymously published: Fama Fraternitatis in 1614, Confessio Fraternitatis in 1615 and the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz in 1616. Together they presented a legend related to a German pilgrim named "C.R.C.", who was later in the third Manifesto introduced as Christian Rosenkreuz. The legend tells that this pilgrim studied in the Middle East under various occult masters and founded the Rosicrucian Order, which aimed to bring about a "universal reformation of mankind". During his lifetime, the Order was alleged to be small, consisting of no more than eight members. When Rosenkreuz died, apparently in the 15th century, the Order disappeared, only to be "reborn" in the early 17th century (the time of the publication of the Manifestos).

These documents, full of symbolism (as were all hermetic and alchemical texts of those times) have been interpreted in various ways throughout the centuries. They do not directly state Christian Rosenkreuz's years of birth and death, but in two ingenious sentences in the second Manifesto the year 1378 is presented as being the birth year of "our Christian Father", and it is stated that they could describe the 106 years of his life, which would imply the year 1484 for his death. The foundation of the Order can be deduced in similar terms as having occurred in the year 1407. However, these numbers (and deduced years) are not taken literally by many students of occultism, and are considered as allegorical and symbolic statements for the understanding of the initiated. The reasoning for this relies on the Manifestos themselves: on one hand, the Rosicrucians clearly adopted through the Manifestos the Pythagorean tradition of envisioning objects and ideas in terms of their numeric aspects, and, on the other hand, they directly state in the second Manifesto "We speak unto you by parables, but would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy and ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets".

Answer 2

Juan, you beat me!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosicrucians

Answer 3

http://www.watchman.org/na/rosae.htm

Answer 4

http://www.americanreligion.org/cultwtch/rosicruc.html

BEWARE